Wine makes you attractive and 10 other reasons to pour yourself another glass

Alicia is a writer and editor who spends entirely too much time on the computer and is convinced that wine makes her more productive. She has a passion for giving back which typically involves weekends spent with sick children or a home...

Wine makes people think you are more attractive, but we are drinking it for our health

There's a new reason to drink wine — as if we needed one. Researchers at Bristol University found that students rated photographs of people who had a glass of wine as more attractive than those who didn't have anything to drink.

While we always thought it worked the other way around, we're not mad about this new finding. Don't get too excited just yet, though. If you go for that second glass, you fall back in the not-so-attractive zone. The good news is, whether you think this is legitimate or not, there are actually several other good reasons to drink a glass of wine besides the fact that it might make you more attractive to a college student.

1. Wine is basically exercise

A study in the Journal of Physiology found that resveratrol, found in red wine, can not only enhance exercise training and performance, but it can also offer the same benefits as working out. This doesn't mean you can chug a bottle and pretend you won a marathon, though. One glass will offer the benefit without the negative consequences caused by over-consumption.

2. Your heart loves wine

A heart wants what a heart wants. Red wine, and particularly that magic component resveratrol, provides a nice little boost of antioxidants and may prevent heart disease. The antioxidants increase the levels of good cholesterol in your body and protect against artery damage. Of course, doctors will say that blueberries do the same thing without the negative impacts of alcohol, but who wants a glass of blueberries after a long day?

3. It gives you something to look forward to

Even on the worst of days, you can always count on wine to be there for you. From a serious standpoint, though, a study published in BMC Medicine found that moderate wine drinking may help ward off depression.

4. It may improve your sex life

A study by the University of Florence found that levels of sexual desire were higher in women who consumed moderate amounts of red wine. So, if you need a little boost in the bedroom, let wine help you.

5. You don't have to cook it

Hey, you're tired. You have no groceries. There's no time to cook. We get it and we aren't judging. Sometimes a glass of wine makes the best dinner.

6. It can help strengthen your friendships

A glass of wine may just give you the strength you need to make that phone call that you've been meaning to make for the past two months. Or better yet, invite your friend over to enjoy that wine with you.

7. You save an oatmeal cookie every time you have a glass

Grapes are meant to be fermented and consumed as wine. They are not meant to be dried up and turned into mushy little cookie-ruiners. Keep the demand for wine up so that there is nothing left to make raisins with.

8. It makes you invincible

Besides the health benefits already mentioned, wine offers so much more when it comes to your health. Who needs a doctor when you have Bordeaux?

9. It can make you love your kids again

Parenting is hard and we may not survive it without wine. After 12 time-outs, countless boogers consumed and a shirt stained with a mixture of sweet potatoes and finger paint, a glass of wine will make you forget it all so that you can get up and do it again tomorrow.